By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 4th March 2022) — Both the annual St. Kitts Music Festival and Sugar Mas have gotten approval for 2022 hosting in light of relaxed restrictions for mass events. Chairman of the COVID-19 National Task Force Abdias Samuel revealed at the NEOC briefing on Wednesday 2nd March that Cabinet has approved the hosting of St. Kitts Music Festival in June, coming after a two-year pause due to the pandemic. The festival is proposed from June 23rd to 25th, from 7PM to approximately 2AM, with approximately 4,000–6,000 patrons per night at the Kim Collins Stadium.
In relation to Sugar Mas (St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival), Minister of Culture Jonel Powell gave confirmation at the Sugar Mas 50 Prize Giving ceremony held on Saturday 26th February at the Marriott Dome in Frigate Bay. “I want to endorse something our Chairlady said. It’s coming back. The full force of our St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival Sugar Mas is coming back for Sugar Mas 51 in 2022, and I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you’re all invited back to participate with us and to do so in the new home of carnival come Sugar Mas 51,” Powell expressed. He also reflected on the importance of staging Sugar Mas 50 to “pump some much-needed energy back into our entertainment sector in particular, a sector that has been hit probably the most.”